Chapter 28: First Meeting
As one of the few legendary-rank warriors in his past life, Joshua naturally paid close attention to other professionals of the same level, whether they were players or in-game characters.
The Sword Saint of the Northern lands, Brandon Kaos, the Empire's Sword, was naturally on his watchlist.
As a titled powerhouse, Brandon was a very famous figure throughout the Continent of Strife. His formidable strength, handsome appearance, and what could be called a gentle attitude toward others had attracted considerable popularity in his past life, at least within his war band...
Now was not the time to think about such things. No matter what he would become later, there were still important matters to attend to now.
"Count of Moldavia, Joshua Radcliffe, arriving to lend support."
Because he was clad in full-body armor, Joshua merely nodded slightly and returned a military salute.
Actually, according to formal protocol, regardless of what one was wearing, the two nobles should have exchanged names, displayed their crests, exchanged pleasantries, and only then discussed other serious matters. However, neither the warrior nor Brandon was a verbose person, nor did they have much time to waste.
Joshua said directly, "The situation is critical now, what..."
Suddenly, he frowned deeply, no longer speaking with Brandon. Instead, he raised his head and looked toward the pitch-black night sky to the side.
The blonde swordsman was no ordinary person either. He did not become angered by the other's sudden rude behavior. He knew that since Joshua was willing to travel a great distance to aid Moldova, he was certainly no rude madman. The black-armored warrior must have had a reason for doing this.
So, Brandon followed Joshua's gaze toward that seemingly empty night sky. A blue light flickered in his crimson eyes.
But the warrior suddenly shook his head. He shook the steel lance in his hand, then flung it forcefully, tossing the three-meter-long giant wolf corpse hanging from it off the city wall. Crimson battle qi erupted, blasting it into a mess of shredded flesh and blood. As the cold wind blew, it instantly turned into a patch of red ice crystals on the ground.
"I've been wondering where the leader of the enemy beast horde went."
Facing the still-chaotic beast tide, Joshua removed his helmet. His previously furrowed brow relaxed, and his crimson eyes churned like molten lava: "It shouldn't be absent. If a gold-rank magical beast had appeared from the start, even if it couldn't take the city, it would certainly have been able to exhaust you further and prepare for the next step. I was even prepared to encounter a gold-rank magical beast during my assault on the beast tide. But it turned out to be anticlimactic, not exciting at all."
"I didn't expect it to be here."
"It's right here! Right here!"
The blonde Sword Saint seemed to have discovered something as well. His gaze pierced through countless scattered giant bats and wyverns. His red-and-blue mixed eyes were now full of astonishment: "It's been up there... watching us all along!"
"Yes."
Joshua said softly: "Quite arrogant."
The corners of his mouth curled upward, carrying a hint of a smile. The warrior raised the lance in his left hand, his muscles contracting. The color of the battle qi flowing smoothly onto his hand shifted from crimson to black-red. A chilling murderous intent surrounded this ordinary steel lance, instantly transforming it into a demonic spear covered in countless black patterns: "Courtesy demands reciprocity!"
Boom!
After taking aim, the next instant, the lance was thrown by Joshua with full force, even triggering a violent sonic boom. The gale stirred up airwaves. The white shockwave forced everyone except Brandon back several steps. Even the extremely hard city wall, capable of withstanding the impact of magical beasts, cracked and fissured.
The lance vanished from everyone's sight in an instant. It broke through the atmosphere, unleashing a terrifying roar. The air twisted, exploded, and vibrated wildly. In the eyes of others, it was a red star shooting against the sky, flying straight into the distance!
"Hsssaaaaaahhh!"
Immediately, a miserable screech came from afar. In the darkness, a massive figure suddenly appeared. Countless purple-black dust flowed over its black, dragon-like body, and a long spear wrapped in black-red light pierced through its right wing.
Glaring with furious eyes at the black-armored warrior who had wounded it, the black dragon did not hesitate. It opened its huge mouth full of fangs, and a breath as swift as light sprayed toward the direction of the city wall!
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In the pitch-black night sky, the black dragon surveyed its harvest ground of reaped lives.
Neither the deaths of humans nor the deaths of magical beasts could stir any emotion in its heart... No matter what, as long as it was a creature of this world, its death could serve as an offering to that existence. At most, human lives yielded slightly more in return. So whichever side died, it didn't matter.
A little more, let them die a little more... The more life flames that were extinguished, the more the Chaos above would be pleased... and would grant me more.
The black dragon recalled the door it had opened near the center of the nearby Black Forest, a door radiating a dark, gloomy light.
Nearby, there were two descendants who had accepted its 'eggs'... Before the door, amidst the flickering mysterious light patterns and the dark, turbid Chaos aura, they were being transformed and strengthened at an unimaginable speed, even breaking through that limit.
That limit which even its most perfect descendant before, that mammoth beast, had not broken through.
With each kill and harvest, both its own abilities and those of its descendants would grow stronger... until they surpassed that platinum-white ancient dragon...
It didn't matter.
As long as those two descendants were safe, it didn't matter even if all the ordinary magical beasts died. Regardless, the frenzied beasts swarming beneath it like ants were not the black dragon's kin.
That being said, to harvest lives faster and better, the black dragon still needed a large number of magical beasts to attack cities and fortresses for it. Otherwise, relying on its own strength alone, it would never achieve its goal, and might even be slain on the spot.
In the past, to avoid this possibility, the black dragon had always stayed in its lair, never going out. But this time, it flew out of its lair because of an unexpected situation...
Based on the black dragon's now-intelligent estimation, even if this beast tide couldn't take Moldova's fortress, it would certainly cause massive casualties on the other side. But the reality was that, aside from suddenly sensing a large-scale death among the magical beasts in an instant, it hadn't harvested many human souls or lives.
This was very wrong, something the dragon couldn't fathom.
So, it decided to go and see for itself... It really hadn't left its lair in a long time.
Wrapping half of its golden body in black dust, Chaos mana surged, and its pure black dragon body gradually concealed itself in the dim, dark sky. It stepped onto a stone cliff, then flew into the distance.
The recollection ended.
Hovering in midair, the black dragon seemed to have found the reason for the massive death of magical beasts.
On the ground serving as the battlefield, there were traces of violent explosions. Surging waves of mana fluctuation had not yet subsided.
Was that gold-rank mage insane? That was almost overdrafting mana to cast a spell! Sweeping its spirit sense, it also discovered that two new gold-ranks had suddenly appeared on the fortress's city wall. Although they had no mana fluctuations, their physiques and wills seemed excellent, suggesting their battle qi was also extremely strong.
So this was the key point why this beast tide had failed.
Feeling an inexplicable disgust, the black dragon sensed that both humans exuded an aura it deeply loathed and found extremely annoying... That orderly, steel-like aura.
Suddenly, a chill ran down its spine.
The black dragon felt that its perfect camouflage, made with Chaos mana, had been seen through.
On the city wall, the black-armored warrior turned his head directly toward it. His gaze was like looking at a corpse.
Murderous intent—violent and cold, surging murderous intent rushed toward the dragon, striking its spirit like the sky collapsing and the earth splitting. The black dragon couldn't help but recall the time when it was chased across half the continent by its former kin, that platinum-white ancient dragon. Endless pain and torment echoed back and forth in its heart.
For this reason, it was slowed by 0.1 seconds.
And that was the reason it was hit.
Appearing suddenly, the lance thrown by the black-armored warrior surpassed the body's reaction speed. In an instant, before the black dragon could even think to dodge, its wing was pierced through. The black-red battle qi eroded the hard dragon scales and membrane, and black blood gushed out wildly.
"Hsssaaaaaahhh!"
Roaring in fury, the black dragon knew it had been careless. In its anger, it immediately gathered the viral scale powder within its body and Chaos mana, aiming directly at the city wall and blasting away!